OK, as I mentioned in "Part 1", by September 12 we'll be half-way through our walking holiday in the Cotswolds. After overnighting at the Sherborne Arms in Northleach our next destination is Cirencester, the unofficial capital of The Costwolds. Although we're not, we're booked to stay at The Oddfellows Arms. ;-) Painswick is our next stop where we'll spend the night at Troy House. The evening of September 16, my birthday, will undoubtedly be spent in a pub (like most other evenings won't??!!) in Kings Stanley, close to our B & B of Valley Views. The next day, Cotswold Walking Holidays will again transfer us to a location about 10 miles (16 km) north of Bath, where we'll finish walking the trail. We're looking forward to exploring this magnificent old Roman city where we'll spend our last night at Parade Park.
Blair & Marj and Linda & I will go our separate ways on the 18th, although I think we (both couples) are heading west to visit friends or relatives in towns very close to the Dartmoor National Park in Devon.
And that, complete with lots of links, is an outline of our trip this fall. Of course we're hoping for excellent (read -- NOT raining) weather while we're hiking, however, this is England we're heading for so we'll have to be prepared to walk -- rain or shine. I'll have my laptop with me and most, if not all the B & B's/Inns have internet access, so each evening I'll try to update the blog with pictures and details of the day's activities. Hopefully, it will be as interesting and enjoyable to the readers as the actual journey will be for the four of us!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Proposed Route through the Cotswolds - Part 1
As I mentioned in my first post, we're heading to England in September and the first part of our trip is a ten-day walking holiday through the Cotswolds, an area west-northwest of London. We and our traveling partners, Blair and Marj, will arrive in the UK the morning of Thursday, September 6th and take the train to Cheltenham Spa where we'll spend the next two days at The Butlers Hotel. We decided to spend extra time in Cheltenham, as there is plenty to see and do in and around the city and we also plan on visiting relatives, Phil and Hannah, in Gloucester, just a few miles away.
We begin walking in earnest on Saturday morning when we leave Cheltenham and walk the short distance of 8 miles (13 kilometres) to the village of Winchcombe where we'll overnight at Jenny Cheshire's B & B at 1 Silk Mill Lane. Cotswold Walking Holidays will move our luggage from our hotel in Cheltenham to this B&B in Winchcombe and from here to each subsequent overnight stop. This portion of the walk will follow the Cotswold Way. Next morning, after one of those famous 'heart-stopper' English breakfasts, we head north-east to Broadway, a distance of 10 1/2 miles (17 km). Again we'll be following the Cotswold Way. Here we'll overnight at Dove Cottage. Next, it's on to Chipping Campden, the northern terminus of this national trail. This is a short 7 mile (11 km) stroll, so we should get into town early in the day as there appears to be lots to do in and around Chipping Campden. Our B&B here, Cornerways, looks quite comfortable!
On Tuesday morning we leave the Cotswold Trail temporarily and head south 8 miles (12 km) to Moreton-in-Marsh. We'd better get a good nights sleep at Fosseway Farm because our next leg is through such quintessentially English villages as Stow-on-the-Wold, Upper and Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the-Water, where we'll overnight at "The Lawns" B&B. This leg: twelve miles (19 km), with lots of side-trips!
We made several changes to our original route but finally, with the help of Cotswold Walking Holidays, decided we'd continue south from Bourton to Northleach, where we'll overnight at the Sherborne Arms. Our walking holiday is now half over. We should either be very sore, or very much in shape!
More later....
We begin walking in earnest on Saturday morning when we leave Cheltenham and walk the short distance of 8 miles (13 kilometres) to the village of Winchcombe where we'll overnight at Jenny Cheshire's B & B at 1 Silk Mill Lane. Cotswold Walking Holidays will move our luggage from our hotel in Cheltenham to this B&B in Winchcombe and from here to each subsequent overnight stop. This portion of the walk will follow the Cotswold Way. Next morning, after one of those famous 'heart-stopper' English breakfasts, we head north-east to Broadway, a distance of 10 1/2 miles (17 km). Again we'll be following the Cotswold Way. Here we'll overnight at Dove Cottage. Next, it's on to Chipping Campden, the northern terminus of this national trail. This is a short 7 mile (11 km) stroll, so we should get into town early in the day as there appears to be lots to do in and around Chipping Campden. Our B&B here, Cornerways, looks quite comfortable!
On Tuesday morning we leave the Cotswold Trail temporarily and head south 8 miles (12 km) to Moreton-in-Marsh. We'd better get a good nights sleep at Fosseway Farm because our next leg is through such quintessentially English villages as Stow-on-the-Wold, Upper and Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the-Water, where we'll overnight at "The Lawns" B&B. This leg: twelve miles (19 km), with lots of side-trips!
We made several changes to our original route but finally, with the help of Cotswold Walking Holidays, decided we'd continue south from Bourton to Northleach, where we'll overnight at the Sherborne Arms. Our walking holiday is now half over. We should either be very sore, or very much in shape!
More later....
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Manitoba Marathon and Father's Day
We were up early today as our son, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Caroline, were running the relay portion of today's Manitoba Marathon. The relay is split into 5 approximately equal segments with friends of Caroline, Melissa and Cedric, taking the first two sections, Caroline the third, Ryan the fourth and Caroline's brother, Darrel, finishing the race. The picture, below is of Caroline, Ryan and Darrel at the start of the final leg of the race--Darrel's.
It was an exciting time for Linda and I as we hadn't even been spectators in the Marathon before today! We tried to get to the finish area at the stadium at the University of Manitoba, but traffic was unbelievable and we were unable to get there before Darrel crossed the finish-line. The weather threatened to rain but held off all but a few drops till the race was over. I think there were about 13,000 entrants in this years race.
After the race, Ryan and Caroline treated Linda and I with lunch at Pasta La Vista. Here's the two of them and the two of us.
After we returned home, Chris called from his home in Guelph, Ontario to wish me a Happy Father's Day as well. All in all, it was a great Father's Day celebration!
It was an exciting time for Linda and I as we hadn't even been spectators in the Marathon before today! We tried to get to the finish area at the stadium at the University of Manitoba, but traffic was unbelievable and we were unable to get there before Darrel crossed the finish-line. The weather threatened to rain but held off all but a few drops till the race was over. I think there were about 13,000 entrants in this years race.
After the race, Ryan and Caroline treated Linda and I with lunch at Pasta La Vista. Here's the two of them and the two of us.
After we returned home, Chris called from his home in Guelph, Ontario to wish me a Happy Father's Day as well. All in all, it was a great Father's Day celebration! Saturday, June 16, 2007
Walking the Cotswolds -- or bust!
Well, this is my first posting to our new blog to detail Linda and my latest "adventure" to the UK. We're planning a 100 + mile (160 kilometer) walk of the Cotswolds in England this September. The walking holiday will take place from September 6th to the 18th, or thereabouts, and will cover some of the Cotswold Way, a new national trail as well as other walks, trails and footpaths throughout this outstanding area of natural beauty.
Our adventure will be shared with our good friends from The Pas, Manitoba, Blair and Marj. The four of us will be leaving Canada on September 5th, flying United Airlines from Winnipeg to Chicago and on to London, arriving on the 6th.
We first planned this Cotswold walk well over a year ago and I started doing most of the planning via the internet. Choosing a route was easy, we'd walk the entire Cotswold Way, from Chipping Campden to Bath. However, finding accommodation along the way was another story. Every B & B and country Inn that has a web page looks like a great place to stay because they wouldn't advertise otherwise, so it's difficult to decide what's good value and what isn't. Finally, after much research, we decided to contact Cotswold Walking Holidays Ltd
The first phone call had me convinced we'd done the right thing. Ann, of Cotswold Walking Holidays, has been extremely friendly and helpful and we've got the entire trip planned now with, what I'm sure will be first-class accommodation all along the route. They will move our luggage from point A to point B, etc. so we don't have to carry anything more than whatever we'll need during that days walk with us. They also suggested we not walk the entire "Way", because while it's all very beautiful, some of the distance may be a little 'boring'. And who wants to be bored when they're on holiday? Not us! So we're partly on the Cotswold Way and partly on other trails to other towns and villages in the Cotswolds.
My next post will detail the route.
Our adventure will be shared with our good friends from The Pas, Manitoba, Blair and Marj. The four of us will be leaving Canada on September 5th, flying United Airlines from Winnipeg to Chicago and on to London, arriving on the 6th.
We first planned this Cotswold walk well over a year ago and I started doing most of the planning via the internet. Choosing a route was easy, we'd walk the entire Cotswold Way, from Chipping Campden to Bath. However, finding accommodation along the way was another story. Every B & B and country Inn that has a web page looks like a great place to stay because they wouldn't advertise otherwise, so it's difficult to decide what's good value and what isn't. Finally, after much research, we decided to contact Cotswold Walking Holidays Ltd
The first phone call had me convinced we'd done the right thing. Ann, of Cotswold Walking Holidays, has been extremely friendly and helpful and we've got the entire trip planned now with, what I'm sure will be first-class accommodation all along the route. They will move our luggage from point A to point B, etc. so we don't have to carry anything more than whatever we'll need during that days walk with us. They also suggested we not walk the entire "Way", because while it's all very beautiful, some of the distance may be a little 'boring'. And who wants to be bored when they're on holiday? Not us! So we're partly on the Cotswold Way and partly on other trails to other towns and villages in the Cotswolds.
My next post will detail the route.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)